


SGU EU 4

by Deacon_Heller



Series: Stargate Universe EU C137 [4]
Category: Stargate - All Media Types, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:55:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27593753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deacon_Heller/pseuds/Deacon_Heller
Summary: Life aboard Destiny seems to be improving with the arrival of a massive shipment of supplies and additional android crew members that will create entire departments and possibly turn Destiny into a functioning Tau'ri exploration ship. A change of command foreshadows a drastic change in the day to day life.
Series: Stargate Universe EU C137 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1965601
Comments: 3
Kudos: 3





	SGU EU 4

Eli put cups of coffee in front of Young and Rush as he sat down across from them at a table in the mess hall. The three of them sat in silence with only the ambient sounds of the ship humming in the background. 

"I can't believe we actually have coffee now," Rush smiled as he took a drink. "Nice uniform, by the way."

"There's one with your name on it too," Eli smirked. 

"Not bloody likely," Rush countered. 

"Check it out," Eli showed them the patch on his right shoulder. It was a customized Destiny Expedition patch. "We got our own patch now."

"I'm still not wearing one," Rush said.

"That reminds me, I've got something for both of you," Eli said as he reached into his jacket. "For our Colonel, new socks." Eli handed a new pair of socks to Young. 

Young smiled faintly as he took the socks and looked at them.

"For our angry lead scientist," Eli reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a Zippo lighter and handed it to Rush.

"My lighter?" Rush asked.

"Yeah, sorry, but it's empty. I've been using it all this time," Eli apologized. 

"You know what," Rush slid it back across the table to Eli. "Keep it. I meant to quite a long time ago."

They sat in silence for a moment before Young spoke for the first time.

"How long?" Young asked.

"Twelve years," Eli sighed.

"Why?" Rush asked.

"Unexpected stellar phenomenon. Destiny had to reroute and then we dropped out of FTL because we ran so low on fuel and just kind of, coasted, the last couple of years until we got to a sun to refuel," Eli said.

"You've contacted Earth, what's our status?" Young asked 

"That's kind of a long story. They found the world the Ancients would have been using to reach ships like Destiny."

"Ships?" Rush asked. 

"It's part of a fleet," Eli answered. "Auralon Command is the planet where the Ancients built all their technology. It's an Icarus world that the Ancients designed themselves, but the best part is that's where Destiny was built, and I've already got them working on making spare parts for us."

"Life support filters?" Rush asked.

"And more AMRs, hopefully," Eli nodded. 

"They can do that?" Young asked. 

"They think so," Eli said. "The factories that build these ships are designed to build the entire ship, and then all of the tertiary parts, so it was either wait for five years for it to build another ship or try to trick it into thinking it already had."

"And it's working?" Rush said.

"Not yet. I'm still trying to convince the computer that it only needs to build a few pieces, but I haven't got it all worked out yet. Those systems are different than these," Eli waved his hand around at the ship.

"They wouldn't help you?" Young asked.

"They couldn't. The Ancients were living on that world for like a million years and they were updating their tech along the way, but they didn't update that factory. I guess they stopped making Exploration class ships at some point in their distant past. Over time the technology changed so much that the earliest stuff and the most recent stuff were like different systems. But that wasn't the only thing."

"What else?" Young asked. 

"Earth is at war again."

"Goa'uld, Ori, Lucian Alliance?" Young asked.

"General Carter didn't say," Eli began.

"General Carter? What about General O'Neill?" Young interrupted. 

"Retired, I guess. General Carter says that Earths resources are stretched pretty thin, and I get the impression that we're not the top priority."

"It's not like we were before," Rush grumbled. 

"From what I understand they've got that whole world working to crank out warships and weapons. I think we'll get what we need to survive, but there might not be an Earth to get back to."

"Wonderful," Rush said.

"They want you to talk to you when they dial up in about," Eli looked at his watch, "half an hour."

"I should go get ready," Young got up and finished his cup of coffee. 

"I activated the computer systems in the...I guess...captain's private office. It's just through the right hatch on the bridge, and it's the first door on the right. The next door is captain's quarters, I think. Its private quarters connected to the office," Eli explained. 

"Weren't those doors locked?" Young asked. 

"I've had a lot of time on my hands," Eli shrugged. 

Young set his empty coffee cup on the table and looked down at Eli. "You kept yourself alive, and you saved all of us, Eli. Excellent work."

"Truly," Rush agreed. 

“Thanks,” Eli glanced down at his watch. “We need to get to the gate room. You’re gonna love what’s coming in today.”

“How did Ginn deal with the extended trip?” Rush asked as he stood up from the table, and drank the rest of his coffee.

“I don’t know,” Eli slowly shook his head. “I tried and tried for months to contact her, or Perry but there’s something wrong with the system. No matter what I tried I just kept getting error messages. When you have the time you need to try. Maybe you’ll see something I missed.”

“I will,” Rush said as he followed Eli out of the mess hall.

The hatch slid open and Young stepped into the octagonal room that was the captain’s ready room. Two large screens hung on the walls to his right and left and straight ahead there was a semicircle shaped desk. Young walk past the two chairs in front of the desk and around the left side past the hatch into the captains’ private quarters. He sat behind the desk and took in the room. 

On the wall opposite the hatch was one of the myriad of large wall panels with controls that seemed to have no apparent function. On the wall behind him was another incomprehensible piece of Ancient art.

Young sat at the wide semi-circle desk and looked at the screens and control panels on the left and right side of the desk. They were shaped like the other screens he’s seen all over Destiny. In front of each screen was a small control pad in front of them. Directly in front of Young was curved keyboard inlaid into the surface of the desk flanked by two more sets of keypads on each side that appeared nowhere else in the ship. 

While Young was familiarizing himself with the desk’s functions, he pressed the key that raised the large curved panel at the front of the desk. It slowly slid upwards until it revealed a twenty-five-inch-tall and thirty-five-inch-wide curved screen. In a moment Young had a menu of the ships systems on the monitor. 

A light on the desk to his left began flashing, indicating that the gate was activating. When the gate locked the light stopped blinking and stayed on. A notification blinked in the lower right corner of the screen indicating there was an incoming transmission. Young activated it and a window appeared that framed General Carter's face. 

"Colonel Young, it's nice to actually see you, " Carter smiled.

"Well, it is less jarring than the communication stones," Young folded his hands on the desk. 

"Agreed," Carter nodded. "I'm transmitting something to you right now. It contains the complete files on the new personnel, departments, and everything we'll be sending aboard Destiny."

"General, I have to recommend against putting anyone else on board. I can't really guarantee anyone's safety, or even survival. Our resources are just too limited," Young countered.

"They're not living people."

"I'm sorry?" Young asked.

"Almost all of the personnel we're sending aboard Destiny are going to be androids. They don't consume any of the resources that a living person does," Carter explained. "They're also much more durable, and well, harder to kill."

"Robots?"

"No. They'll all look exactly like the people they are being copied from. They'll have their personality, mannerisms, and behave exactly like the real version. We've been using them for years now to be able to augment our limited resources and spread out highly specialized skills. Eli can give you more information about them."

"Understood," Young said. 

"Most of them are going to be crew members of ships currently underway in space. The additional crew will have experience in space," Carter explained. "We're sending two, six-person security teams aboard right now to prepare for the bigger resupply to assist with the incoming personnel and supplies. 

"Twelve more people will be helpful," Young nodded. 

"We should have all of the additional personnel here on Auralon in the next week or two. You’ll have an entire medical department, additional bridge crew, and several more scientists. Once you have the resources to bring your entire crew out of stasis, we'll be sending a couple of additional living scientists."

"You can't use androids for them?"

"It's a little more complicated than that, there are treaties in place now that didn't exist 12 years ago. The reports will explain it all. They also include everything that we need written reports on. Unfortunately, you're going to be writing a lot."

"Honestly, I'd rather be writing than what I'm usually doing," Young said. 

"I know what you mean," Carter nodded. "That's it from this end. How soon do you think you can bring more crew out?”

"The numbers suggest that will be in about a week," Young said.

"In the meantime, we'll keep the forty-eight-hour resupply schedule to increase your supply stores," Carter said while typing on her own desk.

"Thank you, General."

"We'll check back in two days, enjoy your reading."

"Yes, General," Young nodded. 

The video ended and in its place was the Ancient logo for Auralon Command. Young sat back in chair and began going through the files he'd received. He sighed and mumbled. "I'm going to be here all night." 

Eli stood in the stasis hall at the pod control panel isolating four of the pods and then deactivating them. As the pod doors slid open Eli walked over to each pod and handed a sheet of paper to the groggy people inside. 

“Ok, everyone wake up, we got stuff to do,” Eli said as he walked past their open stasis tubes and handed each of the groggy people a sheet of paper. “This is a Q and A will bring you up to speed on the way to the mess hall.”

“Q and A?” Scott asked as he followed Eli.

“I’m tired of explaining everything,” Eli explained. “Come one, we have some actual food.”

“Food?” James asked as she rubbed the back of her neck. 

“Yeah, read the paper,” Eli said as he began walking away. 

Half an hour later Eli sat a table in the mess hall with Scott, Johansen, Greer, and James answering questions that didn’t make it to his Q and A sheet while they ate. Looking at his watch Eli stood up and took a step back.

“Ok, I gotta go give the androids a tour of the ship,” Eli pointed at the food on the table. “Eat as much as you want, we’ve got plenty now. When you’re done you have new clothes, uniforms, soap, shampoo, and just a ton of stuff in your quarters waiting for you. Take some time, get some rest. We have a huge resupply tomorrow and we’re gonna be super busy.”

Eli turned and took a few steps way, before he looked back and said. “Also, all the new faces are androids, so don’t worry about it.”

“Androids, I didn’t think this could get any weirder,” Greer mumbled. 

Three hours later Scott entered Young’s ready room for the first time. He looked around at it all before Young stood up and held out a datapad for Scott that looked like a kino remote but twice as big with a variety of additional keys. Scott stepped in and took it as Young gestured him to sit in one of the chairs across the desk. 

“So, this is new,” Scott said looking around the ready room.

“Eli did quite a bit while we were sleeping,” Young said sitting down. 

“What’s this?” Scott asked reading the screen on the pad.

“Tomorrow we get our single biggest resupply and that’s what’s coming,” Young pointed to the pad. “ 

“We’re getting entire departments?”

“Departments, personnel, equipment, everything,” Young confirmed. 

“Medical, Security, Engineering, Sciences? There’s ten departments under Sciences.”

“The SGC has big plans for Destiny now that they can reach us.”

“What’s Gate Operations?” Scott asked. 

“Experienced Stargate teams that will be handling all of our planetary exploration.”

“Database Analysis?”

“The SGC is really eager to start examining all the data that Destiny has accumulated so they’re putting people on it exclusively.” 

“That’s too much data for a couple people to go through,” Scott commented as he read the text on his pad. 

“Destiny is designed to transmit the data to Auralon Command where they have massive AI computers to go through it all,” Young explained. 

“IOA liaison? We already have one.”

“The IOA isn’t happy with how Camille did her job.”

“I bet,” Scott agreed as he kept scrolling through the text. “Command?”

“That’s why you’re here. I need you to supervise the resupply tomorrow while I brief Brigadier General Speers,” Young sighed. “She’ll be the CO and I’ll be the XO.”

“They’re just replacing you?” Scott asked. 

“More like integrating. As everyone likes to point out, I was never supposed to have this command. Now they’re in a position to staff the ship how they always intended to.”

“Are they all going to be androids?” Scott asked cautiously.

“Everyone that’s coming tomorrow will be. Eventually there will be a few additional scientists when the ship is ready to sustain more living people, but there aren’t anymore planned after them. I convinced them to give us more time to bring out our own crew before we added anyone else.”

“Is more personnel a good idea?”

“We’ve got more air scrubbers coming tomorrow, and the raw materials to start refilling the life support filters, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“We’re going to be opening a lot of additional spaces,” Scott said, reading his pad. “Can we sustain that right now?”

“We don’t need to, androids don’t breathe. It’s going to take them days to set up their labs and equipment. They’ll be added to life support as needed after that,” Young explained. “And three different departments will be generating oxygen.” 

The next day Colonel Young stood in the darkened gate room with Scott, Greer, James, Johansen, and all twelve of the Security Response Team androids. Everyone was wearing their new Destiny uniforms but Rush. He wore his vest over a new long sleeve button up shirt with a new pair of gray slacks.

Eli glanced sideways at Rush sand smiled slightly as the gate opened. 

“Destiny, this is Auralon Command,” A young woman’s voice came over their ear comms.

“This is Destiny, go ahead,” Young responded.

“Beginning resupply now.”

A tall woman in her late fifties with long hair wrapped into a tight bun walked through wearing the black Destiny uniform. Her name tape read SPEERS. Young and everyone else snapped to attention and Young saluted her as she approached him. 

“Colonel Young,” She said.

“Brigadier General Speers,” He responded. 

“I hereby relieve you of command of Destiny.”

“I stand relieved,” Young said after a short pause.

“With me,” Speers said as she walked past Young without looking at anyone else. Young nodded to Scott and turned to follow her out of the gate room.

Next came a bald man in his late fifties wearing the black Destiny uniform. Scott recognized Dr. Strom form the one time he was in the office with General O’Neill while Scott was giving a briefing. 

“Dr. Strom,” Scott greeted him.

“Lieutenant Scott,” Strom held out his bags for Scott to take. 

Scott acted like he didn’t notice Strom expecting him to take his bags, and instead pointed to the doors at the other end of the gate room. “We’ve put up signs leading to the private quarters, if you hurry, you’ll have your pick of open rooms.”

Before Strom could assert his indignance Scott stepped away to see what was coming through the gate. Scott began to direct the people arriving through the gate. “Medical to the left, munitions to the right, sciences in the center.” 

For the next three hours Scott directed the new arrivals and all the equipment as it boarded Destiny. With the bulk of the equipment aboard the incoming supplies changed to pallet sized crates on wheeled bases. Scott saw one come through with stencils on the side he didn’t recognize. 

“PKD S5?” He asked out loud as he looked at his data pad.

“It’s tools and parts for androids,” Special Response Team Gunner’s Mate Grayson explained to Scott. “PKD means android, and S5 means Series 5, which is what we all are.”

“Ok…put it out in the hallway for now,” Scott told him as he turned watched the next set of rolling pallets come through.

The resupply continued for half an hour before Auralon Command radioed Scott for the last time.

“There is just one last thing, and it’s coming through now,” The woman on Auralon Command informed him through his earpiece. 

Scott watched as a small black plastic case ten inches wide and twenty inches long slid through the gate onto the deck. Scott picked it up and looked at the letters stenciled on it. 

“A.C.E.,” Scott asked.

“That case is specifically for someone name…Wallace,” She answered. 

“Copy that,” Scott responded. 

“That’s the end of the resupply,” She said. “Good luck, Destiny.”

“Thanks, for everything,” Scott said looking over his shoulder at the packed gate room. The gate flashed out and the room dimmed slightly. Scott took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. Greer walked over to Scott and they looked around at everything. “Can you believe this?”

“Part of me thinks I’m still in that tube, and this is a dream,” Greer said.

“Yeah,” Scott nodded slowly. “It’s so weird, after all this time.”

“I just hope they packed us some clippers,” Greer said rubbing his hair.

Scott grinned at Greer as he walked away to start the long and tedious process of sorting through everything. An hour later Scott passed Eli in the hallway as he was directing one of the new faces. 

“Hydroponics…straight ahead, cut to the right, go down two levels, come back this way, and then it’s on your right,” Eli explained. 

“Um, thank you?” The confused scientist said.

“Eli, they said this is for you,” Scott said as he handed the case off to Eli without stopping. 

“What is it?” Eli asked as he took the case. 

“No clue,” Scott said without looking back as he continued walking. 

“A.C.E.?” Eli asked out loud as he read the case. He shook his head and jammed it under his left arm as he watched two security officers pick up a massive case and walk away with it. “No, guys, the garden is in the other direction.”

Eli took a deep breath and continued with the heavy cases in each hand. He made it five steps before he had to press himself against the bulkhead to let Johansen by as she pushed a large wire shelf stacked with medical supplies. After several turns and side stepping one of the security teams as they pushed pallets of munitions to the armory, he was finally able to drop the cases outside the hatch of the new science lab. 

Destiny designated its’ cargo bays as follows; the main cargo was Number One. It was the largest at just over four times the size of the gate room. It was currently sealed off and unpressurized due to the massive hole in its ceiling which was also the exterior hull of the ship. 

To the port and starboard of the main cargo bay were two secondary bays roughly half its size. The port bay was designated as Number Two, and the starboard side was Number Three. The Number Three bay was also sealed off and unpressurized. It was fully intact, but the life support was currently insufficient to open the space. 

In the Number Two cargo bay three SRT androids were on hour four of sorting and confirming all the materials in the shipment. Gunner’s Mate Grayson led Harper and Wynn through the process while trying his best to read the ancient Ancient dialect on the ships’ datapad. He looked at the crates stacked against the bulkhead. 

“Ok, I’ve got 6 portable CO2 air scrubbers, aaaaand 24 replacement filter cartridges,” Grayson said. “Wynn, what do you have over there?”

“I count 8 Naquadah battery banks, 40 power strips, 60 extension cords, 12 tool kits, 4 arc welders, 2 oxyacetylene torches, and what I can only assume are all of the handheld grinders on Auralon,” Wynn replied. 

“I need a number,” Grayson sighed.

“…twelve.”

“Twelve,” Grayson mumbled as he tapped the key on the datapad. “Harper, what do you have?”

“Two Advanced Lightweight Mobile Water Treatment Units with six of the big square water containers in the hamster cage frames. They’re 300 gallons each, and they’re full,” Harper announced.

“Nice,” Grayson said, looking at the datapad. “Next we need to confirm the canisters of materials for the life support filters.”

“I got some over here,” Wynn called out, looking into a large black case. “Four canisters of Sofnolime, whatever that is.”

“It’s basically just powdered lime,” Harper explained. 

“We’re looking for sixteen more canisters of that and twenty canisters of Sodasorb,” Grayson said. 

“If it’s just powdered lime why didn’t what’s his name, Wallace, try to refill the life support filters a long time ago. It’s naturally occurring, and he obviously had the time,” Wynn asked. 

“Everybody was safe in stasis, so maybe Eli just wanted to take a break from running for his life while he was slowly starving to death,” Greer said as he walked into the cargo bay and began lifting lids and looking through cases. “He got lucky enough to find a nice and safe tropical world where he could eat fruit on the beach.”

“After two years of thinking he could die any day, maybe he just needed a break,” Greer continued as he looked from case to case. 

When he found the case he was looking for Greer dug into it, shoving contents aside until he pulled out a pair of battery-operated clippers. “Either way no one is in a position to question him because he made sure everyone survived.”

After Greer walked out the three looked at each other. Wynn nodded, “Yeah, that makes sense.” 

It was just after midnight by Destiny’s clock when Eli finally made it to his quarters. Wilson followed him into his room as Eli dropped the small black case on his bunk and then he took the kino remote out and dropped it next to the case. He started getting undressed as he looked up at Wilson.

“I need a shower and some sleep,” Eli said as he picked up the towel hanging over the control council under all the pictures he tapped to the wall and he walked into his bathroom. Several minutes later he came back out in a fresh pair of shorts. He looked up at Wilson. “Not gonna lie, I’m still not used to having soap and shampoo.”

Eli sat down on his bunk and rubbed his eyes with his palms. He glanced to his right at the case and yawned as he picked it up and opened it. Inside was a forearm-based computer unit with screens and controls on it.

“What is this, a Predator wrist gauntlet?” Eli mumbled. He set it down on the bunk and investigated the case. “Oh, an instruction book.”

He opened it and there was a yellow Post-It note inside the cover from General Carter. 

“Eli, this is the control unit for the probe we sent aboard Destiny and the instruction book. You’ll have to figure out how to get it to directly interface with Destiny yourself, but it’s going to be worth the time and effort. Have fun!  
General Carter”

“Best, general, ever,” Eli grinned up at Wilson. “Now I can get it off the bridge and get Colonel Young off my back about it.”

“Ancient Control Element, A.C.E., sweet.” Eli read the table of contents. “Probe Controls, cool. Life Sign Detector, could be useful. DHD, that sounds familiar. GDO, that doesn’t. Compact Supercomputer, Neat!”

Eli flipped through the instructions for a few more moments before looking up at Wilson. “Don’t worry buddy, this thing can’t replace you. I mean, you’re just so chatty.”

Wilson floated silently in the center of the room. 

“See, that’s what I’m talking about right there.”


End file.
